Kneckdown comes to the Esso Club on Saturday.

Jay Shell sells himself a little short. He says he constantly criticizes and apologizes for his own guitar playing. He didn’t get started on guitar until he entered college and says he’s still a little behind.

“My roommate was trying to learn guitar, so I picked it up and learned a “G” chord,” Shell said, “I learned two more chords and wrote my first song right away. I still haven’t learned any more chords yet.”

Shell and longtime friend Chris Austin started playing as an acoustic duo almost six years ago, but the need to play original music was always on their mind. Shell knew if he wanted to do it right he would need a full band, so the duo formed Kneckdown in 2006. The band will perform at the Esso Club on Saturday.

The band plays primarily in the southeast and is based in Rome, Ga. Their performance at the Esso Club will be their second show in South Carolina, but Shell said Clemson already reminds him of home.

“I came into Clemson expecting a big city,” Shell said, “But it really has a country heart. It reminds me of Auburn and where I grew up in Alabama.”

The country sound is heavily associated with Kneckdown. Shell said most of the band’s original music lands in the country and southern rock category. The band has a signature country twang and Shell’s vocals sound oddly close to that of Hank III.

Shell said the band keeps their sets to half covers and half originals. He likes to pay tribute to Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash and church gospel. Gospel is important to Shell because he started singing at a young age with his mother and sister in a church trio and that was his first real experience as a performer in front of people.

Kneckdown may not have to concentrate so much on covers at the Esso Club; the last time they visited Clemson their CD had already beaten them there. Shell said that during the middle of a set the crowd started asking for “Chasing My Smile,” a Kneckdown original. A member of the crowd later told Shell that Clemson students had been burning and distributing the CD for months.

“That was so odd, in such a great way,” Shell said, “It’s wonderful when you can just throw the covers out and concentrate on the originals, which is what we do best.”

The Kneckdown original “Chasing My Smile” is one of Shell’s favorites. Shell wrote the song after hearing a guy talking about chasing a good time by using the expression “chasing a smile.” According to Shell, he had to write a song about it because he thinks that’s what everyone is doing.

Another Kneckdown favorite is “Redneck Like Me,” which Shell wrote after the band played a few dates in Chicago. Shell and company found the time to visit Wrigley Field, and a group of Chicago girls continually called them rednecks.

“I kept telling them if you want to see redneck you should see my dad because I don’t have anything on him,” Shell said, “The song is really about being true to yourself.”